Performance and Economy

You can get the Nissan Qashqai with one diesel and two petrol engines, and with either a six-speed manual gearbox or an automatic unit.

If you live in the heart of suburbia and consequently do lots of town driving pick the 1.3-litre petrol model. It’s available in two power outputs, 140 and 160hp, and is one of the best small petrol engines on sale. It’s hushed on the move and quite nippy – in both 140hp and 160hp guises. But, what you’ll love most is how smooth it is to drive. Unlike some smaller-capacity engines, it doesn’t growl or drone when you accelerate hard and it’ll return around 40mpg in normal driving conditions.

Unlike some SUVs, the Nissan Qashqai doesn’t pretend to be capable of tackling tricky off-road trails – instead its efforts are focused on being one of the comfiest family cars on-road

Mat Watson

carwow expert

If you do lots of miles you’ll want to consider the 115hp 1.5-litre diesel engine. It’s just about nippy enough to keep up with fast-moving motorway traffic and will return approximately 50mpg in normal driving conditions.

The Nissan Qashqai comes with a smooth six-speed manual gearbox as standard but you can get an automatic unit in diesel and more powerful petrol models to save you from making numerous gear changes in heavy traffic.

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The Qashqai's 430-litre boot is roomy enough, but not as big as in other SUVs

The cabin looks okay, and feels well-built – but that's about it

The infotainment screen looks and feels a bit dated, but is easy to use

The steering wheel was updated in 2017 to give a better view of the Qashqai's dials

Space in the back is decent, but really tall passengers will struggle a bit for head room

You have to use latches next to the headrests to flip the rear seats down

The suspension does a good job of ironing out the worst bumps on British roads

The raised driving position makes the Qashqai easy to drive and see out of

The cabin's pretty quiet at motorway speeds, so long as you avoid the optional 18-inch wheels

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Driving

The Nissan Qashqai is larger than most conventional family cars but it’s still a breeze to drive around town. Its raised driving position gives you a good view out over the road ahead and the door pillars beside the windscreen don’t cause any particularly large blind spots at junctions.

It’s pretty easy to manoeuvre too, and you can get a wide range of extra tech to help make parking as stress-free as possible. Pick the Smart Vision pack if you want front and rear parking sensors or go for an N-Connecta car to get a 360-degree surround-view camera that shows a bird’s eye view of your car and its surroundings. For those dying to show off, Tekna and Tekna+ models get an automatic parking feature that’ll steer for you into parallel and bay spaces.

The Nissan Qashqai is one of the most comfortable family SUVs to drive, both around town and on the motorway. Its suspension does a great job of ironing out small imperfections in poorly maintained roads and it’s especially good at softening the jarring thud of large potholes. This is helped be a system (fitted to Acenta Premium models and above) which automatically dabs the brakes imperceptibly to cushion the suspension’s rebound over bumps.

Another clever bit of kit is the ProPilot semi-autonomous driving assistant, which is a combination of safety assists that, at the push of a button on the steering wheel, take over steering and braking, essentially driving the Nissan Qashqai for you. All you need to do is keep your hands on the steering wheel. It’s perfect for taking the sting out of long motorway journeys.

On top of that, you’ll hear barely any wind noise at speed, so it’s easy to travel long distances without feeling particularly fatigued – especially if you avoid the larger wheels fitted to N-Connecta models. They make the Nissan Qashqai feel slightly more bumpy around town and produce a noticeable roar at motorway speeds.

On the upside, Acenta Premium cars and above with a few optional safety features for greater peace of mind. Nissan’s Smart Vision pack comes with automatic emergency braking (that’ll apply the brakes if it detects an obstacle in the road ahead), traffic sign recognition and lane departure warning as standard.

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